Endurance Power Z2b Intervals
Endurance Power Z2b Intervals
Building aerobic endurance efficiency provides long-lasting groundwork for the entire season, creating a wide base that is one of the most essential building blocks of road cycling training.
These intervals will boost Speed Endurance, Endurance Efficiency, overall Economy, and Neuromuscular Transmission while laying the groundwork for even harder intervals later in training. Large volumes of this Endurance Power Z2b allow for higher peaks and less burnout in the season.
Why do you break out Endurance into two zones Z2a and Z2b?
Through decades of experience, we have found that if you tell one athlete to go out and ride "Eundrance," they will target the bottom of the Endurance Zone at 55%, while another would target the top at 75%. Each of these levels provides very different benefits. To resolve this and provide pinpoint accuracy, we break up Endurance into two zones to best target exact efforts and gauge performance.
Endurance Z2a is 55% to 70% of Functional Threshold Power (FTP)
Endurance Power Z2b is 71% to 75% of Functional Threshold Power (FTP)
Here are the steps to perform Endurance Power Z2b Intervals:
From prior testing, determine a 5-watt range of the very top of Z2b power. For Example, 220-225 watts will be your target for the effort based on an FTP of 300 watts.
Start with 30 minutes in Endurance Power Zone Z2b.
To smooth out the uphills, flats, and downhills, focus on an average rolling power of 10 to 15 seconds.
Drifting into higher zones on short efforts uphill can be okay, but don't overdo it. The same applies to downhills. It's entirely acceptable not to pedal with zero cadence on downdownhill. If you have power calculations without zeros, it won't impact your average wattage for the effort.
Maintain the total interval time at no more than 50% of the total ride time.
Add 15 Minutes to the weekly efforts, and you can build up to 1.5 hours, depending on your category level.
The effort can be divided into varied, shorter, or separated time blocks based on fitness level, experience, or the time allowed for training.
Maintain a cadence of 85-90; the higher the cadence, the better, as it increases neuromuscular transmission.
What do these efforts achieve?
You build a house from the ground up, and performing these efforts will provide a large, stable foundation for the future. Results from these efforts have proven increases in FTP without even performing those efforts! They also increase the average base speed at a lower heart rate and power by building endurance efficiency and an endurance economy for the year.
Why not start with more challenging efforts?
I have often seen athletes jump into Tempo or straight into Threshold work, and they wonder why they see slight increases in power or speed that take extended periods to achieve. They only achieve acclimating to the effort intensity and do not increase the metrics.
How do I know I am doing these correctly?
When your Heart Rate lowers and the average power rises into Tempo Z3a, you know you are doing these right! Another sign they are working is when the perceived exertion becomes "easier" over time, which allows you to easily extend the average watts into the higher zones.
How can I mess these up?
Most athletes can hit the top of the 5-watt range, but they must completely blow the heart rate limit entering Tempo Zone 3a Heart Rate to achieve this. It's better to start at the lower end of the 5-watt zone, which will provide a better corresponding heart rate average, and, with time, you can increase the watts without the cardiac drift effect.
Things other than keep in mind:
Endurance Power Zone Z2b efforts are PERFECT for the trainer
The colder it is outside, the slower your average speed may be for the efforts. This is due to a wide range of environmental factors, such as increased air pressure, so please don't fixate on speed; power or heart rate are more important.
All of what is provided here are just reference points.
If you are intrigued by this article, consider a professional coaching solution with Sommerville.cc, where we can custom-tailor these efforts and much more!
